1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal watercraft. More particularly, the present invention concerns a personal watercraft having a forced air induction system, wherein the system is particularly suitable for use in aftermarket bolt-on applications, although the principles of the present invention are not limited to such applications.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Those ordinarily skilled in the art will appreciate that personal watercraft have traditionally included a normally aspirated engine for powering the water jet pump which propels the vessel. Although there have been attempts to provide aftermarket forced air induction systems to “boost” the horsepower of the engine, such expedients are problematic. For example, conventional aftermarket induction systems fail to provide the horsepower gains that most users desire. It has been determined that this may be attributable to a number of deficiencies in conventional designs. Beyond the compressor itself, one such deficiency concerns the manner in which the compressor has previously been mounted within the engine room. The supercharger often experiences significant acceleration, deceleration, and impact loads during operation. Structural support which permits any shaft deflections or bearing misalignment caused by these operating conditions can be catastrophic. Furthermore, with respect to supercharger applications, traditional drives mechanisms for the induction system have failed to reliably and efficiently transmit power to the supercharger, while maintaining serviceability of the watercraft driveline and reducing the complexity of system installation.
Forced air inductions systems are now also being sold as part of the original equipment from the watercraft manufacturer. Such conventional “OEM” induction systems suffer from many, if not all, of the problems presented by the aftermarket systems.